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Magazine Review and Clearance
Figure  5-2.Subsequent  advance  story  leads.

Journalist 3 & 2 - Introduction to Journalism and other reporting practices
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CHAPTER 5 ADVANCE  STORIES,  FOLLOW-UPS AND  REWRITES At  one  time  or  another  in  your  career  as  a  Navy journalist,  you  can  expect  to  find  yourself  writing  an advance  story,  writing  a  follow-up  and  rewriting  a release received from an outside source. Producing advance stories, follow-ups and rewrites first requires that you know how to write and, second, that you have a sharp eye for accuracy. You also must have a sound knowledge and background of the subject about which you are writing. ADVANCE   STORY LEARNING   OBJECTIVE:   Interpret   the   rules and structure of the advance story. An advance story calls the public’s attention to a coming news event which would possibly be missed if it  were  covered  as  a  spot  news  story.  It  answers  the following   questions: What is going to happen? When is it going to happen? Advance  stories  are  used  to  promote  practically every  scheduled,  major,  special  event.  They  provide  the advance   buildup   and   support   required   to   attract attention,  encourage  participation  and  assure  success. Few  special  events  could  succeed  without  the  benefit  of advance announcements by local media. scheduled   event. Figure  5-2  shows  examples  of  leads  to  advance stories  following  the  initial  announcement. Suppose  your  command  was  open  for  public visitation.  The  event  probably  would  be  a  complete failure if the public did not know in advance when and where it would occur, what activities were planned, who could  attend  and  why  the  public  visitation  was  being held. RULES Three  important  rules  for  you  to  remember  when writing and releasing advance stories are as follows:     Do not shoot the whole works in the first story. In a publicity buildup, plan the release of major facts so they may provide good news pegs for later advance stories. Do not ruin a good thing. Advance stories must contain   legitimate   news,   not   mere   publicity puffs.   Provide   facts   that   readers   will   find worthwhile  and  interesting. Do  not  overexploit  an  event.  Schedule  your advance stories over a reasonable period of time, give enough new information in each release to keep your audience interested,  but do not bore them  with  unnecessary  repetition.  The  scope  and importance of the event will help determine the time  frame  required  to  promote  it  adequately. Usually, three to four weeks will be more than sufficient. STRUCTURE Figure 5-1 shows a typical example of an advance release that might be used to announce an Armed Forces Day public visitation. The first release should contain the  bare  information  essentials.  Subsequent  releases should  elaborate  on  the  basic  facts  presented  in  the initial  announcement.  The  actual  number  of  advance stories is determinedly what you have to tell. Each story should build up to the next one, with the most important news  pegs  timed  for  release  during  the  week  of  the FOLLOW-UP   STORY LEARNING   OBJECTIVE:   Interpret   the purpose,  reader  considerations  and  structure of  the  follow-up  story. Like  advance  stories,  follow-ups  are  part  of  an overall  story.  In  many  news  situations,  there  will  be important  or  significant  developments  in  a  story  already released.   These   news   developments   must   then   be released  to  update  the  original  story.  This  method  of reporting  is  refereed  to  as  follow-ups,   which,  as  the 5-1







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